But first, last night at anchor at Norfolk

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We left Cape !ay at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17. It was great to have auto pilot once again.

It would take us 24 hours to get to our next destination…….. Norfolk, Virginia. We had calm seas. The night was very peaceful. The girls saw no other boats on their watch. Capt. Ralph finally got a good night's rest. We did not have to wake him up once even. Usually his rest is disturbed sometime during the girl's watchi if only to set new way points for us on the GPS.

The boys reported that they saw two sailboats and a tug, but still it was a calm and peaceful night.

The seas were choppier when the girls got up for their watch. There would be no sunrise that morning. It was overcast with light rain. We had cream of wheat for breakfast. For lunch Stephen made a tremendous hot meal with Arlene's leftover stroganoff. He beefed it up with carrots and zucchinis. YUM!

That afternoon the girls got to take us into Hampton Rhode and to our anchorage in Willoughby Bay. Franci enjoyed her watch very much. She got to help put up the spinnaker and we were able to sail into our destination. What fun. It was so nice to have the auto pilot back as well. Life is good.

We passed two shipping lanes on our way into the Norfolk area.

It was fun to have an evening at anchor. We enjoyed happy hour and a delicious ginger beef dinner. We would take off the next morning at dawn headed for Coinjock, North Carolina where we will dock and have dinner at the marina restaurant famous for its 32 oz. prime rib. It's all about food. YUM!

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Frqnci and Stphen

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Thursday, May16

We left New York at 6 a.m. headed to Cape May, 24 hours away. the city was gorgeous at dawn. The Verrazano bridge which connects New York and New Jersey is an outstanding site. It's huge. The Atlantic Ocean was beyond that and that's where we would spend the next two days.

We had oatmeal for breakfast.

Finally there were calm seas. The guys took the first watch. At 9:15 a.m. they put up the sails. This was the first time out for our Screecher, the big jib. Nice! Unfortunately, at 9:45 the wind died down and it was back to motoring. We've had to motor most of the way so far because the winds have not been right for sailing.

There was a lot of communicating with Dick, the designer, that morning because we had discovered that the front beam was loose. Dick will,be sending a new assemblage kit for us that. will meet up with inorganic City, North Carolina.

At noon, the girls went on watch. We really appreciated the calm seas and warmer weather. It was actually pleasant. we spent the day gng down the New Jersey coast. There is a long barrier island that stretches almost the entire length of e New Jaey coast. It was very flat. Along with the better weather came bugs…..tiny little flies. They were slow and pretty easy to kill.

We passed a couple of sailboats and a fishing boat but all in all it was pretty quiet on the Jersey coast. We saw occasional posts with flags on them. Ralph tells us that they have radar reflectors in them.

Dinner that night was chicken stroganoff with green beans. The girls were back on watch from 8 to midnight. We had the mainsail up although we were still motoring. We could see the lights of Atlantic City all evening long. All in all it was a very peaceful trip.

The winds would change at midnight and the boys were hopeful that they could sail into Cape May and arrive their by dawn. Indeed, that is what happened. We (the girls) enjoyed the quiet and peaceful rest as much as the guys enjoyed sailing all night.

At dawn, we arrived in Cape May. We pulled into South Jersey Marina and went across the street for breakfast. It was a very welcomed feed. As you can tell, we're all about food. Here the part for the auto pilot was waiting for us.

Whike Ralph fixed the auto pilot, we all took showers and bought groceries and supplies. We also got off a few blog items since they had good Internet. Stehen went to the Lobster House and said it was the best seafood market he's ever seen.

We enjoyed seeing this square rigger that was also at the fuel dock.

By 2 p.m. our missions were accomplished and we were underway again headed for Norfolk, Virginia.

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